Jake Williams, Temecula Valley, So. He’s so dedicated to golf that coach Rich Emard has to tell him to go home for dinner.

Great Oak has perhaps the Valley’s two best golfers — seniors Michael Howe and Michael Pugh. Wolfpack coach Jared Boyatt refers to the duo as the “best 1-2 punch I have ever had.”

Both have caught the eye of college golf coaches, as Pugh has a scholarship to Fresno State and Howe is bound for Rutgers after this season.

Last year, Howe became just the third Valley golfer to qualify for the state championship as an individual, joining Murrieta Valley’s Rickie Fowler (2005-06) and Vista Murrieta’s Kevin Dougherty (2009).

But their approaches are somewhat different. Howe is consistent on planting the ball in the middle of the green and limiting his bogeys to a minimum. Pugh is more of a risk-taker who patterns his style after famed professional golfer Phil Mickelson.

“I’m just playing the game,” Pugh said. “I’m comfortable with all my shots. I am not chipping out. If I’m playing, I’m putting it all on the table.”

Last year, the Wolfpack missed qualifying for the state championship by one stroke at the CIF Southern California Regional. Beyond Pugh and Howe, the depth is there again to make another deep postseason run, as Blake Perry, Kendel Hodges, Stone Leachman, Tim Davis and Erick Liscio have all recorded sub-40 scores in nine-hole matches this season.

Great Oak, which has won three of the past four Southern Section Eastern Division team titles, has plenty of hurdles to overcome just to be in position to make it to state again. It missed the cut at the Eastern Division championship in 2011, and the competition is always fierce at the team qualifier and the Southern California regional tournament, where only four of 20 teams advance.